Man of Steel: Before the Lost Years
by julzbobbibroun
Summary: Zack Snyder's Man of Steel gets the Smallville treatment with a dash of DC. This is the love story that was never meant to last.
1. Intro

**Man of Steel: Before the Lost Years**

_"Maybe Clark Kent and Lana Lang just weren't meant to end up together."_

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Zack Snyder's _Man of Steel_ gets the _Smallville_ treatment with a dash of DC Comics. Much mixing and mashing of many mediums combine to create the self-explanatory tale. This is the love story that was never meant to last.

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Disclaimer: As master of the universe, it would be redundant of me to claim ownership over anything. Jokes.

Pairings: A young Clark Kent, therefore...

Warning: This won't be updated regularly. Or any time soon, in all likelihood. I have recently gotten myself a life again. Oh, and expect happy, shiny warm and fuzzies if you actually read this.

Notes: It's only the prologue that is in the format of a letter – which should look very familiar if you are clued in on the geekage. The rest will be regular narrative, the usual. I don't know when I'll update though. It will probably be a while. Apologies.


	2. Prologue: Empty Road

My dearest Clark,

I knew it was you the second I saw that image. A flying man appearing from nowhere to do the right thing. Among your many abilities, you have the uncanny power to arrive... or disappear at the most dramatic times. I know you're reading this at home, the first place you went after the crowd pushed in on you, clawing, begging. I know you're sitting in solitude, on that old couch in the loft your dad built, the wooden fortress we fed together with secrets and chatter and silence. I know you're terrified. More than when you told me your secret. More than the time your parents caught you trying to sneak me out of the house at six-thirty on a sunny morning. More than you were in Paris.

The world is not a kind place, Clark. Fate plays games with us all. Life rarely goes according to plan. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, that's what makes it so damn incredible.

I wanted to grow old with you and I know you wanted a life with me too. A life together where the two of us would spend forever in a bubble, away from the world. Safe. Normal. More of the same in a small town. That was our plan. A plan that was doomed from the start. Because...

Even though neither of us could ever say it...

Maybe...

...Maybe Clark Kent and Lana Lang just weren't meant to end up together.

That's why I left Venice without you. I can only hope that you were eventually glad about what I did. Turning our lives upside down was the hardest decision I have ever had to make. But I was glad that I finally had the guts to do it.

I remember those plans for our summer wedding in your barn. The one that I'd imagined when I used to sit on my front porch and look across the field. The one we could never seem to get sick of discussing as teenagers. The one you and I seriously started to talk about as we made our way across Europe. We both assumed it would happen but, if either of us had to be truly honest, reality didn't match the different paths we were on.

Everyone thought our future was laid out right in front of us. We were supposed to go to college. Major in something menial. Minor in something else even more so. Have a nice, little small-town wedding and then pop out two-point-five kids. That's what other people thought and we so childishly believed was written in the stars. But I was headed to Met U in the fall and your dad was reluctant to let you leave the farm. And then that second tornado hit Smallville just before graduation.

Our relationship wasn't supposed to come to an end. We were supposed to be forever.

That naive nineteen year-old in Italy wasn't sure if her ultimate actions were the right call. There is a thirty-three year-old currently residing in France who still isn't. However, she does know that was exactly what we needed. Where I am now, for the first time, it feels right. I know you feel the same way about where you are as well.

I've been reading the Daily Planet's headlining articles as of late – the ones written by a certain red-haired reporter who cornered me in Gotham, asking about that bus incident when we were kids. I'm proud of you. This is who you should have been all along. You belong to the world, Clark. Simply staying with me would have held you back and that was why I had to leave. In your heart, you know it. No matter how scary that sounds, how insane. They need you. We all need you. And I know you will find a way to help as many as you can because that's what you do. Whether that alien invasion was a curse or badly disguised blessing doesn't matter. You don't need to hide in the shadows anymore when you save people.

You were always destined to save the world, Clark. You already have once and you're just getting started. I know that you are questioning whether or not you'll be able to live up to everybody's expectations. In my mind, there is no doubt that you will. I'm sure there's a ton of pressure on you right now. Just make sure to do what you have set out to, what you've always done, on your own terms. Not theirs.

One favour. While you're soaring through the clouds, helping, try to remember me. No matter what happens, what heights you achieve, you will always be Clark Kent. The same handsome guy I've always known. The clumsy boy I fell in love with.

It's been a while since I bumped into you with _The Portable Nietzsche_ out the front of Smallville High. It took nineteen years, but I guess you've finally figured it out. 'Superman' suits you well.

Love always,

Lana.


End file.
